We invite applications for a MS Student position in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The graduate students will participate in a collaboration with the Desert Research Institute (DRI) utilizing the SEPHAS Lysimeters in a project on “Upscaling heterogeneous evaporation fluxes in arid lands”.
The project:
- Will address the challenge of upscaling evaporation fluxes from heterogeneous soil surfaces and their changes due to developing cyanobacterial biological surface crusts (biocrust).
- Determine spatially variable evaporation fluxes by combining thermal images with the available lysimeter data.
- Develop a method to estimate albedo differences between surfaces with and without biocrust to improve evaporation estimation.
- Explore the transfer of the developed method to larger scales.
The graduate student will closely interact with an international team of researchers at UNLV and DRI. The position is funded through a Teaching Assistant position with the potential for a Research Assistant position (depending on the availability of funding).
The ideal candidates will have a background in hydrologic modeling or remote sensing, as well as excellent communication skills. Programming experience is desirable.
The positions will remain open until filled and begin either Fall 2026 or Spring 2027.
If you are interested in one of the positions or if you have any questions about the positions, please contact Hannes Bauser (hannes.bauser@unlv.edu).
